Sibling Rivalry
by Ezlyphe
Summary: A few random one-shots chronicling the life of Berk's craziest resident twins. Not in chronological order.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: **Girls Like Dolls

"GIVE ME BACK MY DOLL!"

A six-year-old Ruffnut Thorston ran through the house, closely following her twin brother (who at the moment had her most prized possession in his hands). The racket these two were making would be enough to make anyone want to tear out their hair. But for Mr and Mrs Thorston this was just another regular day. So there they were, calmly discussing their day's activities.

"Got a new sword today," Dagr mention casually to his wife and took a swig from his mug.

A loud crash could be heard coming from somewhere in the background.

"Oh, really?" Eydis replied, putting more meat onto Dagr's plate.

Another crash and the unmistakable sound of glass breaking.

"M-hm. It's really good too. Handle's made from pure brass. Dragon-hide sheath."

The clunk of metal against metal as shields fell over.

Eydis nodded, impressed. "They don't make them like that-"

"AH! LET GO OF ME!"

Dagr and Eydis peered over into the living area where Ruff and Tuff were. Tuffnut was curled up into a ball on the floor and Ruffnut was standing over him. She had a firm grip on a fistful of the boy's hair and was pulling with a surprising amount of strength for such a small girl. But no matter how hard she pulled, Tuffnut would not yield and give up the toy he was holding hostage. He felt more inclined to scream at the top of his lungs for help.

Dagr went back to the large map that was laid out in front of him; he had only turned around to make sure no one was bleeding or unconscious. His wife looked at him expectantly.

"What?" he asked, not looking up.

"Do something. They're going to kill each other."

"Nonsense!" Dagr said. "They're learning to be Vikings, they need to be tough!"

But Eydis gave him a glare that made him get up and tend to his children.

When he reached the feuding twins he leaned over to pick Ruffnut up, who finally let go of Tuffnut's hair.

"Alright, what's all this about?" he yelled over their screaming.

"HE HAS MY DOLL!" Ruffnut shrieked and unfortunately for Dagr her mouth was right next to his ear.

Dagr continued after the ringing in his ear went away. "Is this true Tuffnut?"

Tuffnut was now sat up, his hands behind his back. His clothes and hair were disheveled. "No!" he said, shooting his sister a glare; she returned it with a steely gaze of her own.

"Tuffnut…" his father said in a warning tone.

Tuffnut sighed dramatically and brought out Ruff's doll from behind his back.

"Why did you take Ruff's doll?"

* * *

_Ruffnut was sat in a corner, playing with her favorite doll. It wasn't very fancy, just a small little thing made out of cloth and wool. But Ruffnut loved it nevertheless. Her mother had made it for her and it was the perfect playmate for Ruff: it was soft, quiet, with long blonde braids – much like Ruffnut's – and it didn't complain when thrown against a wall._

_"Hey, I wanna play."_

_Ruffnut looked up to see her brother standing over her; he had two toy swords in each of his hands. "Here." He said, holding out one of the swords to her._

_"No, I'm doing something." She said, turning back to her doll._

_"What? You're playing with that stupid doll again?" Tuffnut gave his sister a look that obviously showed he thought she was crazy._

_"She's not stupid! You are. Now go away, she doesn't like boys…or whatever you are."_

_Tuffnut scoffed. He knew how to get her attention. He quickly snatched the toy out of Ruffnut's hand and ran away. Ruffnut blinked confusedly for a few seconds before chasing after him._

* * *

Dagr sighed and rubbed his temples as Tuffnut finished his story. "Tuffnut, give your sister her doll back and apologize."

"But!"

"Tuffnut…"

"Here's your stupid doll back." Tuffnut said, carelessly flinging the doll at his sister.

Dagr cleared his throat.

"…Sorry," Tuffnut mumbled, looking at his feet.

Dagr nodded, pleased with his parenting skills and went back to the kitchen.

"What kind of Viking plays with dolls?" Tuffnut said, after making sure his father was out of ear-shot. "They're not tough, they're stupid and _girly_." And with that he walked away.

Ruffnut looked down at the doll in her hands, its stitched smile and button eyes that she once loved so dearly were no longer appealing. The hairstyle it had that reminded Ruff of her own hair was starting to annoy her. With a huff she flung the doll to the floor and picked up a toy sword and shield.

She ran out of the room, in search of her brother.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: This chapter is for Alice W. Rabbit. She requested it and I felt so honoured. :'D Hope I get this right, I loved the idea. Oh and if anyone else is interested in requesting a chapter, I'd be more than happy to oblige. ^^**

**The twin's ages vary very differently according to the chapter and circumstance. So in one chapter they may be older and in the next they may be younger. Yeah, just wanted to point that out. I apologize if it isn't funny, I tried. D:**

**Thanks for the reviews and such! You guys make me feel so special…**

**Chapter Two: Secrets**

This was a bad idea.

This was a dreadfully, horrendously, terribly bad idea.

But he was going to do it, he couldn't stop himself. No matter how hard he tried to resist in his mind, his feet completely ignored the thoughts and carried him to his favourite spot in the forest. It was a good spot; completely secluded, where no one would be able to find him. At least he _hoped_ no one would be able to find him.

When he reached the small clearing he stopped to look around. All clear. He shook his head and sat on a large boulder sitting in the middle of the clearing. He was being paranoid. But he already had enough trouble even getting here. In his mind he had every right to be paranoid. Ruffnut had been more than reluctant to let him out of her claws. The nosey girl hadn't stopped asking questions when she found him trying to sneak out of the house. But he was finally able to shake her off when he lied that Snotlout said she couldn't wield an axe to save her life. She left to find Snotlout and he left to find the clearing.

Tuffnut let out an exasperated sigh. He would have to hurry. He didn't want to stay away too long. People asked questions when he was away for too long. Especially his sister. He had to make this quick.

He reached into his fur vest and pulled out a flute. It was a beautiful thing. Carved from the bone of some unknown beast and fashioned to look more like an instrument. He remembered the first time he heard the flute being played. It was only a few months ago, about two days after his 12th birthday to be exact.

He was chucking stones at the elder's house at the time. He was right under her window and was in the position to throw another stone when he heard it. Music floated out of the window and down to him. He had never heard anything like it before. Music was never played in the Thorston house, especially music like this. It was soft and melodious; a mellow sound that put him in an uncharacteristically calm mood. He was entranced. And he couldn't stop himself from climbing through the window to get a better view of whatever it was that made that heavenly sound. That's when the village elder gave him a flute of his own. She offered to give him lessons but he wanted to learn how to play it on his own. He was just stubborn that way.

And since then he had been coming to this exact spot to spend time with his music. At first he was horrible at it but he eventually got the hang of it and even managed to make up a few songs of his own. He would even go as far to say that he was pretty good at it. But then again, in his mind he was pretty good at just about everything.

He nervously licked his lips, put the flute up to his mouth and blew.

The sound broke through the silence and caused it to shatter like glass around him. He moved his fingers over the holes expertly and played one of his favourite songs. It was the lullaby that his mother used to sing to him and his sister when they were younger. The lullabies stopped once they reached a certain age and Tuffnut missed them greatly. He would never dare to admit that to anyone, though. It wasn't very Viking-like to want your mother sing to you.

He was afraid. No, _terrified_, at even the thought of someone finding out his secret passion for playing the flute. He could just imagine the names he would be called and he felt more comfortable to not think about them. No doubt he would be the laughing stock of the entire village for the rest of his life. But his fear of being found out was nowhere near enough to override his love of music.

And so he played; his eyes were closed and he was lost in his own world. Oblivious to anything and everything around. Oblivious to the sound of the birds flying overhead and the small woodland creatures that skittered around at his feet. Oblivious to the figure standing a few feet away from him.

He soon finished his song and put the flute down. That's when he came back to reality and immediately felt the presence of someone else there with him. He froze, not daring to take his eyes off the flute in his lap. Time seemed to drag on forever as they stayed there in silence. Tuffnut was the first to do anything. He peered up and stared at the face of his twin. Her face held a weird grimace. As if she was trying to hold back…laughter.

He hurriedly hid the flute behind his back and mentally challenged his sister to mention anything about it. He knew she had already seen the flute but he was prepared to deny it until the earth stopped spinning.

She walked over to him slowly; her face was contorted into a weird smile.

"What's that you got there, bro?" she asked once she was standing right in front of him. Her voice cracked mid-sentence and Tuffnut groaned inwardly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

They continued to banter until Ruffnut finally ended it by grabbing the flute from behind Tuffnut's back and yanking it out of his hands.

Ruffnut stared at the musical instrument in her hands for a few seconds before doubling over and bursting out into fits of laughter. Tuffnut put his head in his hands and grumbled. His life was officially over.

"Are you done yet?" he asked when she was still laughing 5 minutes later.

Ruffnut's manic laughter calmed to a chuckle and she wiped tears from the corner of her eyes. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach; no doubt her sides were killing her from so much laughter. She stayed in that position for a few seconds and finally stood up straight. She held out the flute, a wide grin plastered over her face.

"So this is what you've been up to?" she asked breathlessly.

Tuffnut stayed quiet and suddenly found his boots very interesting.

"Just wait till the village gets a load of this…" she mumbled, twirling the flute around on her fingers.

Tuffnut's head shot up. "You wouldn't dare…" he said, practically spitting venom at his sister.

"Try me…" she replied with a devilish smirk. She then turned on her heel and made a dash in the direction of the village.

_Oh shi_- Tuffnut sprang up and took off after his twin.

Ruffnut wasn't going to tell anyone. She wasn't_ that_ heartless. She was just going to milk this for everything it was worth.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: This chapter is for TheKyriiKid who requested a chapter of Ruffnut and Fishlegs getting married.**

**Sorry it took so long but I've been but I've been real busy with school and whatnot. **

**Chapter Three: Wedding Day**

"Oh, you look _so_ beautiful."

Ruffnut rolled her eyes at the comment and let out a huff of exasperated air while folding her arms over her chest. She never understood her mother. Her mother was one of the few female Vikings that she could look up to: a role model, a true meaning to what it meant to be a fierce Viking warrior. But ever since Fishlegs' parents paid the bride price about two weeks ago, Ruff's mother had gone practically crazy with the wedding arrangements and she had gotten a whole lot more…feminine. And Ruff suddenly found herself thrown into a whirlwind of wedding plans. Of course no one had bothered to ask Ruffnut how she felt about any of this. Girls were never given much of a choice as to who they married. It was all up to the boy's parents and who could come up with the highest bride price.

So here she was, in her wedding garments, on her wedding day, while her mother fixed her hair in the room.

"You remind me so much of me on my wedding day." Ruff's mother continued, twisting another section of her hair and putting it up to join the other braids that rest on top of her head.

Ruffnut made a face at her reflection and scoffed. Her mother picked up another flower and put it into her hair. Flowers were stupid. Weddings were stupid. Tuffnut was stupid. Ruff's expression suddenly became darker. She seemed to get even more annoyed than usual whenever her brother came into her mind these days. He had been acting strange around her since the day her parents gave her the unexpected news of her engagement to Fishlegs. He wouldn't talk to her, wouldn't fight or argue anymore. He rarely even made eye contact. And as much as Ruffnut hated to admit it, his distant behaviour was starting to affect her. It hurt.

"Idiot!" Ruff suddenly exclaimed which caused her mother to look up in alarm. "Not you, mom." She quickly said when her mother gave her one of those looks.

"Thinking about your brother?" her mother asked knowingly.

Ruffnut reminded silent and turned her gaze to her hands that were folded in her lap. Her mother nodded and continued with her hair. "You know -"

"HE PRETENDS I DON'T EVEN EXIST!" Ruffnut suddenly yelled. She blinked rapidly and put her hand on her forehead in an attempt to block her face from her mother's view.

Ruff's mother looked down at her shaking daughter with sorrow in her eyes and a heavy heart. She put the brush on the table and walked out of the room without another word.

A few minutes later, the door opened and Ruff looked up to see the last person she was ever expecting. She quickly wiped the tears off of her face and turned back to the mirror where she pretended to fix her hair, even though she knew there was not much to fix. Tuffnut stood in the doorway, he felt more than a little awkward and he wasn't sure what to do or say.

One minute he's coming home from hunting with the guys and the next, his mother is on him like an angry Monstrous Nightmare. He could have sworn she almost spat fire. She was berating him for the way he was treating his sister these past couple of days and she was sure to let him know that she wasn't impressed.

Rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head where his mother smacked him, Tuffnut slowly dragged himself into the room, shutting the door behind him. He stopped a few feet away from Ruff and awkwardly scratched his chin. "So…"

"Oh, you finally decided to talk to me," Ruffnut snapped, not taking her eyes off of the mirror. "And on my wedding day! I'm honoured."

The sarcasm nearly knocked him off his feet. _"Guess I deserve that…"_ he thought to himself. "Mom told me to come in here and talk to you. Don't know why…" he mumbled the last sentence while rubbing the back of his neck.

It happened in a flash. Tuffnut heard the sound of something moving quickly in the air and he turned to see an axe lodged into the wall just a few centimetres from his head. He stood there frozen while his brain tried to register what had just happened.

Ruffnut was now standing up, her eyes were wild and her breathing was quick and uneven. She went for another one of the many weapons that hung on her wall, this one was a particularly threatening-looking mace. Tuff's face dropped and became pale.

"You don't know why?" she yelled, taking small steps towards her now cowering brother. "You ignored me for the past two weeks. You never want to go riding or hunting with me anymore. You wouldn't even stay in the same room with me for too long!" She was now standing right in front of him, mace raised. Tears were starting to collect in the corners of her eyes and threatened to spill over. "Tell me, what it is about me that you suddenly find so disgusting? Tell me because I don't like -"

"It's because I'm scared!" Tuff unexpectedly shouted.

The room fell silent.

"W…what?" Ruffnut asked, lowering the mace. Her face was set into a confused/hurt grimace and the tears that were rolling down her face made it that much harder for Tuffnut to look at his sister.

"I'm scared," Tuffnut repeated, not looking up. "I've been with you my entire life. We've done everything together; we've hardly ever been away from each other for more than a _day_. Now you're getting married and I…I don't know what to do. I don't want to lose my sister. We won't get to spend nearly as much time with each other as we used to. So I thought maybe if I cut you off completely then it won't hurt as much when you leave."

The mace fell from Ruffnut's limp hand and hit the floor with a hallow 'thunk'. She stood there for a moment, just looking at Tuffnut with an unreadable expression. She slowly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. Tuffnut flinched and made a quick prayer to the gods before he realized that Ruff wasn't killing him, but hugging him.

He gingerly put his arms on her back in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. They stayed like this for a while before someone finally spoke.

"I'm scared too." Ruffnut admitted.

"What, you are?" Tuffnut asked in surprise.

"Of course I am you idiot! _I'm_ the one getting married."

"Hah, that's true. Hey, do you even like Fishlegs…I mean enough to get married?"

"You know that's the first time anyone has ever asked me."

"Really? Don't you talk to him?"

Ruffnut shrugged. "Not really. He's mostly reading or telling me about dragon facts that I couldn't care less about. I don't know if I like him or not. Not that that's going to make much of a difference."

There was a curt knocking on the door. "Ruff, it's time to go." Their mother said and she walked away.

"Well, you don't want to be late for your own wedding." Tuff said, letting go of Ruff.

"You tell _anyone_ I cried and I'll kill you." Ruffnut said, opening up the door. Tuffnut just nodded, he knew she wasn't kidding.

"So how are we going to split up our time with Crackle and Smoky?" Tuffnut asked on their way out.

"What? Aren't you giving him to me as a wedding gift?" Ruff asked, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

"Hell no!"

**Author's Note (cont.): So what do you think? Hope I didn't make them **_**too**_** OOC. I tried to make it a sentimental moment between siblings but still keep their violent nature. Hope I found the right violence. Oh and no real interactions between Ruffnut and Fishlegs but I wanted to keep the focus on the brother/sister relationship between Ruff and Tuff. There are plenty of RuffxFishlegs stories out there that are way better than this. (So that's an apology to TheKyriiKid if this isn't exactly what you wanted).**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Once again, thanks to all who have reviewed/added my story to their favourite list. You guys rock, seriously.**

**As to why pumpkins? I couldn't think of any story ideas so I consulted a random word generator. Sad, I know.**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Four: Pumpkins**

It was official.

Ruffnut _hated_ pumpkins.

She hated the smell, the taste, the look and even the colour. Admittedly, she hated all vegetables but pumpkins were the worst. There was just nothing good about them. Ruffnut made up her mind about that the moment she laid eyes on one. Of course she never tasted it before but that didn't stop her from hating them nonetheless. So why in Odin's name was her mother trying to make her eat one, Ruffnut would never know.

"Eat it." was the only thing her mother said to her when she placed the plate in front of the young Viking.

"I don't want this." Ruffnut said, pushing the plate away in disgust.

"You're seven; you don't know what you want." Her mother stated, taking a seat at the table.

"I _do_!" Ruffnut retorted, in a way only a seven-year-old could retort.

Her mother stayed silent and put another spoonful of mashed pumpkin into her mouth. Mrs Thorston knew how difficult her daughter could be. She also knew if she gave Ruffnut even the slightest opening of a row, she would never be done with it.

When Ruffnut realized that her mother wasn't going to entertain any arguments today she folded her arms across her chest and pouted. There was no way she was going to eat pumpkin. And she wasn't going down without a fight.

"Daddy…" she said in her 'innocent' voice, turning to her father who was mulling over an open book. She knew he had a soft spot for her. She was Daddy's Little Girl after all and with the right amount of cute she could get her father to do anything for her. Include getting her out of eating pumpkin.

"Eat your food, Ruff." Her father said, not looking up.

Ruffnut made a little sound that showed her disbelief at her father's words. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. When did that not ever work? What was going on? Was she losing her touch?

"See, your brother's eating his," Mrs Thorston said, giving Tuffnut a pat on the head. "Because he's a _good_ boy."

Ruff looked over at Tuffnut who sat in his chair with a gloating look on his face and an empty plate. Because pumpkins were something his sister absolutely hated, it was only natural that he acquired a liking to it. Their mother's praise was just a bonus.

"Suck-up…" Ruffnut hissed, giving her brother a dirty look. She was going to remember this.

Tuffnut just stuck his tongue out at her. "Can I go and play now?" he asked his mother.

Mrs Thorston nodded and Tuffnut wasted no time in jumping out of his chair and running off in search of his toys. Ruffnut started to ease out of her chair as well.

"You're not leaving this table until you eat, young lady."

Ruffnut slumped back into her chair, rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. Today was not a good day.

* * *

Mrs Thorston returned to the kitchen to find Ruffnut still sitting in her chair with folded arms and pout. The pumpkin remained untouched and it was no doubt cold by now. Mrs Thorston silently blamed her husband's side of the family for her daughter's hard-headedness.

Her mother let out an exasperated sigh. She was too tired to deal with this. "Fine. Don't eat it." She said, walking away. "Go out and play with your brother."

Ruffnut started to leave the table but paused.

Well now that her mother was telling her to _not_ eat it, she just _had_ to now!

Ruffnut dug her spoon into the blob of orange mush and pushed it into her mouth. She chewed it slowly and swallowed, smacking her lips.

"Hm, not bad."


End file.
